


Darling, So It Goes

by pterawaters



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Multi, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10593843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: Still heartbroken from the loss of his soulmate, Steve invites his old friend Catherine to Hawaii for a visit, hoping she’ll help him cheer up. However, as soon as Catherine and Steve’s new partner, Danny, lock eyes, it’s clear that the two of them are soulmates. Steve tries not to be jealous of their new relationship, especially since he’s so fond of both of them. He finds it difficult to wish them well with his own ‘mate gone, ripped away from him too soon. Danny and Catherine notice how much Steve is struggling, and are torn between keeping Steve company, and keeping their relationship apart from Steve to avoid flaunting it in his face.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to tresa_cho for the story idea, and thanks to tresa_cho and heydoeydoey for beta reading! I couldn't have done it without you guys!
> 
> The [amazing art work](https://flic.kr/s/aHskSs51a3) was done by [sillyowl](https://ananashelvetti.tumblr.com/) for this year's [H50 Big Bang](http://h50bigbang.tumblr.com/)!

"So I take it Rachel wasn't your soulmate?" Steve asks. He's driving Danny's Camaro back to HQ from their crime scene up on the north shore.

Danny, in the passenger seat, has just hung up his phone after an argument with his ex. "Yeah, no way. We got married because she got pregnant. When her soulmate showed up six years later, it was 'bye, bye, Danny'!"

"Jesus, I'm sorry, man," Steve says, making a tsking noise and shaking his head. "I guess that means you haven't found your 'mate yet."

"No, I _haven't_ ," Danny replies. "And I don't know how I'm ever going to when I'm stuck on this rock in the middle of the ocean. Do you know what percentage of the world's population lives in Hawaii? A minuscule percentage!"

Steve can't help but laugh at Danny's outburst. "I hope when you do find them, they have some sort of calming effect on you, Danno. I mean, I know finding my 'mate mellowed me out a little." Steve realizes his mistake as soon as the words have left his mouth."

"You've got a soulmate?" Danny asks, an almost giddy smile on his face. "How come you never said anything? What are they like?"

"Had." The word sticks in Steve's throat and he has to clear it. "I– I _had_ a soulmate. He passed away."

Danny's smile drops away, to be replaced by this look of pity that makes Steve feel sick.

"What?" Danny asks in a devastated voice. "When did it happen?"

Fuck. It's out there now, so there's no use in lying. "Two months ago."

"Two--" Danny frowns and looks out the window for just half a second before turning back toward Steve. "Why are you working? Your soulmate, the person who is the other _half_ of your entire being died _two months_ ago, and you've been working this whole time! Who denied your bereavement? Because, let me tell you, I'd like to give them a piece of my m--"

"We never registered," Steve says, pulling into the HQ parking lot and into the space reserved for the Camaro. He parks and watches Danny process this information.

Danny sighs. "No registration, no paperwork. No paperwork, no bereavement." He shakes his head slowly, opening his mouth a few times before speaking again. "Was _this_ your version of soulbreak therapy? This team? Five-0?"

Give Danny a half-hearted shrug, Steve says, "Yeah. I guess so."

"Unbelieveable," Danny replies, the last half of his word trailing off as Steve gets out of the car. Danny calls out from behind Steve, "Suddenly your lack of self-preservation makes so much more sense!"

Steve ignores Danny's comment, because as loathe as Steve is to admit it, Danny is right. This work and the new friends Steve has found in his team are the only things getting him from one day to the next.

~*~

As soon as Catherine turns her phone back on after the flight, she sees a voicemail waiting for her. It's from Steve's number, of course, so she hits play and puts the phone up to her ear.

"Yeah, hey, Catherine. I'm in the middle of a case, so I won't be there to pick you up. Sorry about that. But don't worry. I wouldn't leave you stranded. I've sent a friend to bring you to my place." He pauses, a muffled noise in the background, before he continues. "Just—just give him a chance, okay? That's all I ask."

And then the recording cuts out, because of course Steve wouldn't waste time by saying good bye to an answering machine. With a chuckle, Catherine shakes her head and puts her phone into her purse. The people ahead of her on the plane are filing out, so it's short work to retrieve her carry-on from the overhead bin and exit the plane.

She doesn't have any checked baggage—being in the navy for half her life has taught her how to pack light—but she heads to the claim area anyway. Though Steve's voicemail didn't specify, she's fairly certain that's the most reasonable place to meet up with this friend of his.

It doesn't take long to spot him. First of all, he's carrying what looks like a folded-up sandwich board with "Rollins" written on it in big, black letters. Second of all, he's just about the largest person Catherine has ever seen in real life, with what looks like the personality to match, by the way he's flirting with one of the girls handing out leis. His smile is infectious, and Catherine doesn't have to work at all to put a friendly smile on her face in turn as she approaches him.

"Hey! I'm Catherine Rollins."

The man's face lights up and he throws his arms wide, greeting her with an unmistakable accent. "Hey, hey! McGarrett's special lady friend! Welcome to the great state of Hawaii!"

"Um, thanks?" Catherine asks, not quite sure how to respond. There's no way in hell she would refer to herself as Steve's "special lady friend", which makes her wonder what Steve has been saying about her and her visit. 

His face falls for a second at Catherine's apparent confusion. Then, with a shake of his head, the man says, "Oh, what are my manners? I must've been struck stupid by your beauty, little miss. I'm Kamekona."

Catherine shakes his hand when he offers it, and says, "It's nice to meet you, Kamekona. Thank you for coming to pick me up."

"Oh, anything for McGarrett. He's ohana!"

"Right," Catherine says, having a vague idea of what the word means, but not a complete understanding. She gestures toward the doors. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yeah. Come on! Kamekona's island tour service, right this way!"

He leads her to a jeep that looks at least twenty-five years old, though it's impressively rust-free for its age. "Here we are! All set to go."

"Are we meeting Steve at his place?" Catherine asks as she lets Kamekona take her bag and stow it in the back seat. She climbs into the passenger seat, and feels like she might just be heading out on an adventure.

"He says for me to stall a few minutes, if I can," Kamekona admits. As he gets into the driver's seat, the jeep rocks, but settles quickly, like it's used to his weight. He gives Catherine an assessing look and says, "You look like a wahine who can appreciate a good shave ice."

Catherine can guess the meaning of "wahine" from the context, but he has to admit, she has no idea what to expect from a shave ice. Taking things in the spirit of adventure, Catherine gives Kamekona a bright smile and says, "You look like a man who knows where to get a good shave ice."

Kamekona laughs and starts the jeep's engine. It purrs, an obviously well-maintained machine. "You got that right, sistah."

It turns out that a "shave ice" is what Catherine would call a snow cone, and Kamekona owns the damn shop. As she eats the ice with the little straw/spoon contraption the girl behind the counter gives her, Catherine looks out over the beach and toward the ocean. She's only been two days on shore, and already she's started to miss the salt air. 

Kamekona stands next to Catherine with his own shave ice. "So, gimme the skinny, Catherine. You our McGarrett's 'mate, then?"

"Oh, _no_ ," Catherine insists. "Just an old friend. We used to be shipmates, on the USS Enterprise."

Kamekona nods. "Aircraft carrier, right? Big old boat?"

Catherine gives a surprised chuckle. "Yeah. You know, most civilians wouldn't know what sort of ship the Enterprise is."

"Your 'old friend' has this model in his office." He holds his hands out almost three feet apart. "Got the name written on the side, just like Captain Kirk."

It's not the first time she's heard the comparison, and the fact that Steve has a model of the Enterprise in his office doesn't surprise her in the least. She would bet dollars to doughnuts that he and Freddie assembled the thing together during leave.

She turns her attention toward Kamekona. "What about you? Got someone special in your life?"

"Haven't met my 'mate yet, if that's what you're asking," he says, this wistful, far-off look in his eyes. The edge of his mouth turns up. "Got a girlfriend, though. Or, I did." He gives Catherine a sheepish look. "She's not speaking to me at the moment."

Catherine gives him a sympathetic frown and pats his shoulder. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" he assures her, though Catherine can tell he's not admitting to something.

"Uh-huh," she says, giving him a friendly smile.

He laughs, and Catherine can tell why Steve would gravitate toward a friend like this, especially after what's happened.

Catherine hasn't met her soulmate yet, and she can't imagine the pain of having such a sense of completeness and bliss, and then having it ripped away. Maybe she's a little glad she hasn't met her 'mate. The lack has certainly afforded her the freedom to pursue her career in the Navy.

You can't miss what you've never had.

Right?

~*~

"Come on, Steve," Danny says, rolling his eyes and sighing. "It's not going to take that long to go back to HQ."

"Kamekona and Catherine are already on their way to my place," Steve insists, as stubborn and bull-headed as always. "They're probably almost there. What am I going to do? Leave them waiting on the stoop?"

"Or, you could have driven your truck today," Danny points out. "You knew you were having guests. What's the point in having a truck if you're not going to use it to get the places you need to go? I mean, it's bad enough that you didn't go meet your friend at the airport, and had to send the big guy instead. She's going to be put off this island before she actually experiences the awful parts of it."

"Okay, one: it's a waste of gas to drive my truck _and_ your car up to the North Shore. And second, you don't know Catherine," Steve says, turning onto the street that leads into his neighborhood, and _not_ toward downtown, where Danny has work to finish, thank you very much. "I bet she and Kamekona are fast friends by now."

Danny shakes his head. Of course Steve would associate with other people of insane taste. "Who is this girl to you, anyway?"

"She's a friend, Daniel. You remember what that's like? Having friends? Or have you driven them all away with your ability to suck the fun out of everything?" Steve gives Danny that smile that means he knows he's being a little shit, and he wants Danny to know that he knows.

"I have fun," Danny insists. "Responsible fun, you know? A couple of beers, a game on the TV. Fun!"

Steve rolls his eyes again. "If that's what you call fun."

"Well, excuse me for thinking there's very little fun to be had swimming in shark-infested waters and climbing mountains in eighty-degree weather." They're getting close to Steve's place, and Danny can already see Kamekona's jeep parked on the road next to Steve's driveway. He also notices the way Steve failed to sufficiently answer Danny's question.

What sort of full-grown man has a female friend who flies halfway around the world to stay at his house? No, that girl wants in Steve's pants. He wonders if she knows that Freddie was Steve's 'mate, and if she's here now in order to console Steve. Maybe ingratiate herself in the process.

Out of concern for his friend, Danny is going to keep a very watchful eye on Lieutenant Catherine Rollins. The last thing Steve needs right now is someone pushing him for a relationship. Soulbroken people don't just fall in love _again_. 

Not when they've had that perfect love.

There are figures at Steve's door when they pull into the driveway, and Steve all but forgets about Danny as he parks the car and jumps out, calling, "Hey! Catherine!"

Grumbling to himself about people with agendas, Danny takes his time unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out of the car. Of course, Steve couldn't just leave the keys in the ignition for Danny, could he? Sighing, Danny heads toward the house. He looks up, intending to greet Steve's guest in the interest of being polite.

And he Sees Her.

Heart bursting in his chest and stomach full of butterflies, Danny's hands shake as he reaches out. Danny can't even catalog the details of Her beauty, blinded by the burning luminescence of her Soul calling to him. He blinks and licks his lips and forgets his own name, the only word in his throat a croaked, "You."

"You," she replies, closing the distance between them and throwing herself into his arms. She fits there like—Danny laughs—like she was made for him. She's maybe an inch or two shorter than him, her eyes even with his with those heels on her feet. Her dark hair is pulled back, and Danny can't help but reach to see if it feels as silky as it looks.

He laughs again and says, "I've always been drawn to brunettes."

The sound of her returning laugh makes Danny want to kill anyone who would even _think_ of hurting her. He's only ever felt that way before when it comes to his daughter.

The way he feels for Her is all that, and so much more. All the movies and all the songs suddenly make sense.

"Your mark?" she asks, pulling at the neck of her shirt to reveal her shoulder. There, at the rounded front edge is a spot, the vagaries of which Danny is intimately familiar with. Swallowing nervously, because _this is it_ , Danny tries to pull on his own collar. The tie around his neck thwarts his efforts.

Her fingers work in perfect tandem with his to get the tie loose and the shirt's buttons undone. A few seconds later, Danny is standing in front of Steve's house in his undershirt, the mark on his shoulder exposed to the world.

"Lookit that!" a voice says off to Danny's left, and he realizes he completely forgot about Kamekona and Steve. "They match!" Kamekona's smile is so bright, Danny would almost think _he'd_ been the one to find his soulmate.

Steve's expression, on the other hand, is downright depressing.

Danny's attention is back to Her before he can speculate on Steve's expression. Danny reaches up to brush his fingers across her cheek, still not quite convinced she's real. When she smiles brightly at him, Danny returns the smile giddily. "Dan," he says, his tongue too thick for his words. "I mean, Danny. That's my—my name."

"Catherine," she replies, and suddenly, Her name is on a loop through the back of Danny's head.

Intellectually, he knew Steve's friend was named Catherine, but it's like the name had no meaning until it was falling from Her lips. 

Her lips. Danny has to kiss them. He puts his hand on the hinge of her beautiful jaw. "Hi, Catherine."

"Hi," she replies, one arm hooked over Danny's shoulder, the other hand on his face, her thumb brushing over his lips.

Danny leans closer, but is interrupted when Steve clears his throat very loudly, from about a foot away.

Turning toward Steve, Danny raises an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Steve," Catherine says, her voice no-nonsense and corrective, and suddenly Danny's picturing how good she'll be with Grace, and any future kids they might have. God knows Danny wants more kids. His soulmate has to feel the same, right?

"Hey, it's cool," Steve says, holding up his hands. "I remember what it's like. Just thought you might want the reminder that you've got an audience." He points back and forth between himself and Kamekona.

Danny remembers seeing a Bonding from the outside, and how embarrassed he felt for the two 'mates who had just found each other, in a jail cell of all places. The dopey, dreamy looks, the kissing, the … 

"Yeah, maybe we should take this somewhere more private," Danny says, though taking his hands off Catherine is literally painful. It's not as painful as getting shot. He'll live. It's damn unpleasant, though.

A chagrined grimace on her face, Catherine takes a step back from Danny. As she does, it gets easier to think clearly. "Sorry, Steve," Catherine says. "I came here to visit you, but…" Her head turns back toward Danny, and it feels like looking into the sun.

Danny's taking half a step closer to her before he realizes what he's doing.

"Go," Steve says, gesturing Catherine toward Danny. "We'll catch up after you're done Bonding."

He feels uneasy with the situation, because Steve is Danny's friend. He would never steal away Steve's guest like this, even if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. But she's not just any woman. She's Danny's Soulmate. Still, he asks Steve, "Are you sure?"

Rolling his eyes, Steve crosses his arms over his chest. "What am I going to do? Insist that Catherine stays here and visits with me? The urge to Bond is just going to get worse until you do something about it." He nods his chin at Catherine. "Call me in a day or two when you're fit for company."

"Okay. You've got it," she replies, and Danny finds himself reaching for her just as she reaches for him. Danny always figured those tandem movements he'd seen Soulmates do were just a product of shared time together, but he's just met Catherine and already his body is behaving like it knows what hers is going to do. 

Danny has Catherine almost back to the Camaro before Steve calls out again, "Hey, Danno?"

"Yeah?" Danny asks, turning toward Steve just to see the his car keys arching through the air toward him. Just as Danny thinks there's no way he's going to be able to catch them at this angle without knocking into Catherine, she snatches them out of the air.

"Here ya go," she says with a bright smile.

Danny returns the smile, and squeezes her hand in his. "Thanks, babe."

"Oh!" Catherine pulls her hand out of Danny's and jogs back toward the house. "Kamekona? My bag?"

Kamekona hands Catherine a small roller bag. "Here you go, sistah. Be good to our Detective, huh?"

"I will." She gives Kamekona a kiss on the cheek, plants one on Steve too, and then she's back at Danny's side. "Shall we?"

"Let's," Danny replies eagerly, helping Catherine get her bag into the trunk. 

As Danny backs out of Steve's driveway, he makes eye contact with Steve. As right as it feels, being with Catherine, there's still this niggling worry that he's betraying Steve somehow. Danny tells himself that Catherine is _his_ Soulmate. She's the person he's been searching for all his life. He shouldn't feel guilty for finally finding her.

Maybe he just feels a little guilty that Steve had to be there for his Seeing, only two months after losing his own 'mate. That has to be it.

~*~

"Ah, young love," Kamekona says as Danny and Catherine drive off.

"Yeah."

There must be some bitterness in Steve's tone, because Kamekona asks, "You okay, brah?"

"Sure," Steve says, putting his hands on his hips and looking around. What the hell is he supposed to do for the rest of the day?

Kamekona's still looking at Steve like he's concerned or something.

"What?"

"She wasn't your 'mate, Steve," Kamekona says gently. "You _had_ to let her go."

With a scoff, Steve tells Kamekona, "She's just a friend. I'm--" He shakes his head, because he knows he's being stupid. He forces himself to give Kamekona a smile. "Plans change, huh?"

"Yeah! And hey, look on the bright side." Kamekona claps Steve on the shoulder. "You've got the whole afternoon free. You know, me and the boys have a poker game every Friday night."

Steve raises his eyebrows at Kamekona. "I thought you'd given up gambling."

"Don't count if you're playing for pennies."

"S'pose you're right." Steve looks down the empty driveway one last time and shrugs. "Give me a ride?"

Kamekona smiles broadly. "You got it, brah."

~*~

Catherine's still staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, trying to work up the will to get out of bed, when Danny comes out of the bathroom, the shower steam following him. 

"Hey," he says, that Bonding fondness heavy in his voice as he comes over and sits on the bed. "You're awake."

Catherine gives Danny a happy smile and pulls him until he's laying next to her. "Mm. I haven't been this well-loved in _years_?"

His deep chuckle sends a shiver down Catherine's spine. "Yeah? Years, huh?"

"Yeah." Catherine giggles, feeling love-drunk. "Not since Steve met--" She cuts herself off when she realizes what she almost said.

His brow furrowed, Danny turns his head to look at Catherine. "You and Steve used to… Before Freddie?"

Propping herself up on her hand, so she can get a better look at Danny's face as they have this conversation. "Yeah. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Well," he says, gesturing with his hands the way Catherine's starting to find out he does constantly. "I guess it depends on what Steve was hoping would happen when you came to visit."

Danny's meaning hits Catherine, and she shakes her head vehemently. "No. There's no way he wanted to rekindle things. He's Soulbroken, Danny. It takes a long time to start thinking romance again after your 'mate dies."

"It takes a long time if you're _human_ ," Danny says flippantly. "Now, a Super-SEAL ninja robot, I'm not so sure."

Catherine frowns, though it's difficult through the hazy warmth of the Bond. "He's not like that, Danny. Steve, more than anyone--"

"No, I know," Danny says in a quiet voice, giving Catherine half a smile as he takes her free hand in his. "I'm just used to talking shit to keep him grounded. I don't mean it."

"What do you mean, keep him grounded?" Catherine asks, suddenly more worried about Steve than she has been since she first heard about Freddie's death. "He's not as okay as he pretends to be, is he?"

"The man lost his 'mate and his father in the same week," Danny says. "Would anyone be?"

"No, they wouldn't." Catherine's heart breaks for Steve, and she can almost _feel_ a similar emotion coming from Danny. "You're looking after him, aren't you?"

"As best I can," Danny replies with a nod. He gives Catherine a smile and a squeeze of her hand. "Now, c'mon. Get dressed. I want to introduce you to my daughter."

Wait. _What_?

Catherine sits up suddenly. "You have a _daughter_?" 

As deeply as Catherine can feel that Danny is the person for her, that he's her Soulmate, she realizes she knows next to nothing about him, except how good he is in bed. "I don't even… What's your last name?"

Danny stares at her blankly. "I didn't-- Wow, we were out of it yesterday, huh? Williams. Is my last name." 

"And you have a daughter," Catherine prompts him. 

"Grace," he replies, taking a framed picture from one of the tables at the far end of his one-room apartment and handing it to Catherine. "She's eight years old."

"You and her mother?" Not that Catherine has any reason to be insecure about her new place in Danny's life. Soulmate rejection after Bonding is almost unheard of. 

Danny smiles and takes back the picture when Catherine hands it to him. "Long over. She found her soulmate, dumped me the next day. A few years later they moved out here, I had to follow."

"There's just so much I have to learn about you, isn't there?" Catherine says with a happy sigh. 

Danny steps over close to Catherine and bends down, pressing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. "We get to spend the rest of our lives finding all that stuff out, huh?"

Because it seems important for Danny to know her, Catherine loops her arms around his neck to keep Danny close and says, "Short version. Born in Virginia. Moved around a lot with my parents as a kid—Navy dad. Went to Naval Academy. Joined Naval Intelligence. One and a half tours in Afghanistan. Now I'm here."

"One and a half?" Danny asks. Of course he would pick up on that. 

Well, she's going to have to break the news eventually. "Technically, I'm on a ten day leave from my tour. I can apply to use my emergency Bonding days, but that's only another week."

Danny looks away from Catherine, pulling out of her arms and pinching his lower lip with his fingers. "So, you have to go back. I get maybe two weeks with you, and then you're gone?"

"I'm sorry," Catherine says. "I've got another six months. After this tour, I can apply to serve out my shore duty here at Pearl. Since we're Bonded, and there's a custody issue, they should be able to arrange it."

Nodding, Danny takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Provided you survive Afghanistan."

"Provided that," she agrees.

~*~

When Rachel answers the door, her expression shifts from neutral to suspicious upon seeing Danny's face. "Something has happened," she says, not quite a question. 

Danny might as well tell her. "Yeah, I—"

"You've Seen your 'mate," Rachel guesses, her tone flat, which Danny doesn't understand. 

"Yes, I have…" Danny leaves space for Rachel to continue dominating the conversation. Were he in a more defiant, less satiated mood, he'd try to wrestle the conversation away from her.

"Who are they, then?"

"Her name is Catherine," Danny replies, noticing the way his voice goes soft when he says her name. He wonders if that effect will fade in time. "She's a naval officer."

Rachel chuckles. "Of course she is."

Frowning, Danny crosses his arms over his chest. So much for his good mood. "What is that supposed to mean?"

With a shake of her head, Rachel gives half a shrug and replies, "Well, it makes sense that the universe would choose a mate for you who has the same love of danger."

"I don't love danger!"

"Violence, then," Rachel says, turning away dismissively. She calls up the stairs, "Grace! Your father is here."

Hissing low, so Grace won't hear him as she comes down the stairs, Danny insists, "I don't love violence!"

Rachel rolls her eyes.

"You've met my partner, Steve. If anyone loves violence, it's that guy," Danny insists. "He's a menace. I'm very reasonable in comparison."

"In comparison," Rachel parrots back at him with another very polite, very British, scoff. She holds her arms out for Grace as she reaches the bottom of the staircase.

"Hi, Daddy!" Grace says, giving Rachel a perfunctory hug before throwing herself into Danny's arms. He has to admit he feels more than a little smug at the enthusiasm in Grace's affection toward him. "Are we still going to the park today?"

"We are," Danny says, giving Rachel one last snide look. "But, baby, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

Danny doesn't want Rachel barging in on this conversation. Catherine is _his_ 'mate, so he'd like to have the conversation with his daughter that _he_ wants to have without getting sidetracked by Rachel's comments. "Say goodbye to your mother first. I'll tell you in the car."

"Bye, Mommy!" Grace says happily, taking Danny's hand and dragging him from the house.

Danny can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. He hopes she's not too disappointed when the surprise isn't a new toy. He gives Rachel a half-hearted wave goodbye over his shoulder and gets Grace into her booster seat in the car.

"What is it?" Grace demands as Danny starts the car and pulls away from the house. "What's the surprise?"

"The surprise is a person," Danny tells her, not wanting her to get her hopes up too far.

"A person?" Grace gasps. "Is it Grandma? Did she come visit?"

Damn. So much for not getting her hopes up.

"No." Danny says. He tries to think of a nimble way to introduce the topic, but decides he just has to shove his way through the conversation. "Grace, I met my soulmate."

"Duh, I know," Grace says, and Danny almost sideswipes a parked car in surprise. 

"You know?" he cries. "What do you mean you know?"

Grace gives Danny a confused look. "Danno, you met Uncle Steve forever ago."

Oh, no. Oh, this is not good. Danny pulls the car into the parking lot of Rachel's neighborhood church. He parks the car and turns to face his daughter. "Grace, why would you think Uncle Steve is my 'mate?"

"Danno," she says, furrowing her brow. "You're always with Uncle Steve. You talk about him _a lot_. That's what people with soulmates do, isn't it?"

"Well, yes. That's part of it." He tries to think of how to put this delicately. "Those are also things that people with friends do. When you have a soulmate, it's…" Danny can't properly put into words the way he feels about Catherine. "It's _more_. It's so much more."

Grace frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. Uh-oh. "So Uncle Steve isn't your 'mate?"

"No," Danny answers truthfully. He wonders if he's allowed to tell Grace about Freddie. He decides to err on the side of caution and leaves out his description of Steve's soulmate, though he does tell her part of the truth. "He had a 'mate, but they died, Monkey."

"Oh." Grace's face falls for a moment, before she perks up again. "But you met _your_ soulmate?"

"I did," Danny replies, unable to keep the smile off his face as he thinks of Catherine. "She's an officer in the Navy. Her name is Catherine."

There's a moment of silence during which Grace appears to mull over this new information. Then she asks, "You guys have matching marks and everything, right?"

"Right," Danny tells her, getting back onto the road. 

"Huh."

Grace appears to be mulling over something, frowning out the window. He asks, "What is it, Monkey?"

"Where am I going to sleep?" she asks.

Flummoxed because it hadn't occurred to him yet, Danny sputters for a second before saying, "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll get a bigger apartment, maybe even a house. What about having your own room, huh? Wouldn't that be good?"

After considering this for a moment, Grace smiles. "Yeah. That would be great. What about when you guys have more kids? Will I still get to keep my own room? Will they be annoying? Are you going to love them more than me?"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down!" Danny begs, trying his best to listen to all her concerns and drive at the same time. "I don't know if we'll have kids. Catherine and I haven't had a chance to talk about it." Jesus, they haven't had the chance to talk about a lot of things. "One thing I can promise you, though," he says, pulling up to a red light and tugging gently on Grace's sleeve so she turns to look at him. "I could never love anyone more than I love you."

"Even your soulmate?" she asks in a small voice.

"Even my soulmate," Danny agrees, holding Grace's gaze so she knows he's serious. He only looks away when he notices movement from the corner of his eye and has to pull through the intersection to avoid blocking traffic. "I promise you, baby. This is a good thing."

"Okay," Grace says, and her smile is more brave than excited, but Danny loves her all that much more for putting on the brave face just for him.

~*~

Steve takes a deep breath and forces himself to go into the restaurant. It's been over a week since he saw either Catherine or Danny, and he's got this gnawing pit in his stomach over the prospect of seeing either of them again. This whole week, he'd tried to throw himself into his work, but time and time again, he'd find himself distracted. He would sit at his desk, staring into space and and telling himself it was absolutely fair that Danny and Catherine got to start their relationship, even though it left Steve all alone.

It's not like Steve expected – or even wanted – a romantic relationship with Catherine. He just wanted a visit from an old friend, maybe some sort of continuity between who he used to be and who he is now that Freddie is gone. Of course, now that Catherine has met Danny, she's undoubtedly changed. That continuity he wanted is gone.

The two of them are sitting together on one side of a booth, that glow that all new soulmates seem to have heavy in the air around them. Sometimes Steve wonders how he and Freddie kept their commanding officers from finding out when they Bonded. It certainly felt obvious at the time, with the way Steve's gaze wandered off course and toward Freddie whenever he was in the room.

Steve's chest _aches_ as he watches them be completely oblivious to everyone else in the restaurant, staring into each other's eyes. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, counting out the seconds. Pain is just a fact of life sometimes. Steve just has to push his way through it and get on with his life. Freddie is gone. Steve is alone. The end. 

"Steve!" Danny calls, and it startles Steve. It's not the noise, but the fact that Steve hadn't expected either of them to look away from the other long enough to see him. "Get over here, man!"

God, does Steve miss the old, grumpy Danny!

He lumbers over to the table, accepting a hug from Danny before leaning over to kiss Catherine on the cheek. "Hey, guys! How was the Bonding?"

"Oh, you know," Catherine says, sharing a smile with Danny. "Good."

Danny snorts a little, bumping his shoulder against Catherine's. "Yeah. Good."

Catherine puts her hand over Danny's on the table, and asks Steve, "How has your week been?"

He tries not to sigh audibly in relief that they've spared him any of the gory details.

"Oh, you know. Catching bad guys. Stopping crime," Steve says, taking the beer Danny not-so-subtly nudges in his direction. 

"Succinctly put," she replies with a laugh. "Well, thanks for making the time to come out to dinner. I wanted to see you at least a little bit before I have to go back to The Med."

Steve finishes swallowing his sip of beer. "Your leave is over already? I thought they'd give you more time. When Jacobson found his 'mate while he was on vacation in Miami, they gave him three or four extra weeks."

Shrugging, Catherine says, "Some of my contacts are mission-critical. It's going to take some time to get them to trust other members of my unit." "You're pulling out of the field?" Steve asks incredulously. As long as he's known Catherine, the job has been her _life_. This is that change he was afraid of.

"I told her she didn't have to," Danny insists, holding his hand up to prove his innocence. Turning to Catherine, he says, "You love the work, babe."

"I've been stationed in four different cities over the past ten years," she replies, squeezing his hand. "My next move would be to Langley. What, are you going to move to Virginia?"

Panicked at the thought of losing Danny from his life so suddenly, Steve almost says, "No, you can't!" It's not his place to say that, so he clamps his mouth shut.

Danny sighs. "Not with my daughter here." He shakes his head and meets Catherine's eyes. "I know we've been 'round and 'round about this the last couple days, and we keep coming back to you getting a crappy desk job here at Pearl. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Steve, tell him I'll be fine," Catherine pleads, nudging Steve's ankle under the table with her foot.

If anything, Steve thinks that Catherine would _never_ be fine with a crappy desk job. Of course, he's basing that judgment on his knowledge of pre-Bonding Catherine. He doesn't know post-Bonding Catherine, yet. Maybe she will be fine, if she gets to be around Danny.

He can't quite make himself say the words.

Holding up his hands, Steve says, "Hey, I'm staying out of it. This is between you two."

"Then it's settled," Catherine insists. "I'm tying up loose ends, and then I'm moving here. People have moved far worse places after meeting their 'mates, you know."

"Are you kidding me?" Danny cries, but he's got a smile on his lips and crinkles at the edges of his eyes. "This place is _the_ worst!"

Steve manages to snort out half a laugh, but he's bogged down by memories of that first conversation he had with Freddie after they'd finally found someplace private on the Enterprise to finish Bonding. 

_"How do you think we should report this?" Freddie had asked, his big fingers buttoning the shirt of his WKU._

_Steve had torn his gaze away from watching those beautiful fingers work, remembering his first tour with Naval Intelligence, when Brown and Kildeer Saw each other. "They won't let us stay in the same unit," Steve had said._

_The realization, and the disappointment that went with it, had fallen across Freddie's face. "Shit."_

_And then Steve had remembered his father's last deployment, and the way his mother had chafed under the pressure of his absence, growing impatient and sharp with him and his sister. Steve had remembered the way his father turned vague and soulless after his mother's death. And then, Steve decided he was never letting Freddie out of his sight. As far as he could figure, there was only one way to do that, and still remain in the Navy. "They won't separate us if they don't know."_

_A slow smile had spread across Freddie's face. "No, they wouldn't, would they?"_

"It's better if you're in the same place," Steve tells Danny and Catherine quietly. "It's better."

"See?" Catherine says to Danny, even as she gestures to Steve. "It won't matter that the job will be a little boring, because I'll get to be with _you_."

Steve starts to tell Catherine that she's putting words in his mouth, but Danny speaks first. "That's stupid," he insists, rolling his eyes, but he's got his hand at the back of Catherine's neck, gently pulling her closer. Steve shivers at the memory of Freddie doing that to him all the time. "It's stupid, but it's also romantic, which let me tell you, I love." He kisses Catherine, bright and happy.

Steve's chest hurts.


	2. Part II

There's a knock at the door and Steve isn't even on his feet yet when the door opens and Danny let's himself in. "Hey, they didn't have those dumpling-things you like," Danny says, handing Steve a brown paper bag of takeout food as he passes Steve, heading toward the kitchen. Not for the first time in the last several weeks, Steve notices the dark platinum wedding ring on Danny's left hand. 

"The gyoza?" Steve asks, opening the bag and setting it down on the coffee table before he starts rooting around in it. "What do you mean they didn't _have_ them? They took one of their most popular items off the menu?"

Danny comes back into the room carrying two open beers. "Yes, Steven, that's exactly what they did." Danny rolls his eyes and hands Steve one of the beers. "No, they were sold out for the day or something. I don't know; the guy's pidgin was incomprehensible."

"Are you sure you didn't just forget," Steve asks, "and now you're telling me they were sold out just to cover your ass?"

"Uh-uh," Danny says around the mouth of his beer, denying the accusation. He gestures toward the bag and says, "I got you a whole 'nother order of spring rolls to make up for it. Why would I buy two orders of spring rolls if I'd totally forgotten about you?"

Steve takes carton after carton of food from the bag. "I don't know. Maybe because you eat like an animal? Danny, this is way too much food for just the two of us."

"Shit," Danny says, looking at the cartons as he slumps back into Steve's easy chair. "I did it again."

It takes a second, but then Steve understands. "You forgot Catherine wasn't going to be here."

"Yeah." Danny sighs, rubbing his temples. "Sorry."

Steve waves off the apology. He's lost count of how many times he's come home and expected Freddie to be there, even though they never lived together in this house. At least Catherine is still alive. Her presence at dinner isn't impossible. "Don't worry about it. You got used to her being here, and then she got redeployed. It happens."

"It's been two weeks since she left, Steve. I shouldn't still be forgetting." He shakes his head, picking at the label on his beer. "I swear, it's like ever since I Saw her, I've been slowly losing my faculties. One of these days, you're going to find me catatonic in the corner, just sitting there, staring at nothing."

"I highly doubt that's going to happen," Steve replies. He takes two egg rolls and the entire carton of Mongolian Beef for himself. "You'll get over the honeymoon period in a couple of months, and you'll be back to normal." With a snort, Steve adds, "Well, as normal as you get."

"Oh, ha, ha," Danny says, setting down his beer and rummaging through the rest of the food. "Hey, what are you going to do about that girl that showed up today? Jenna?"

"She can help us find Wo Fat. We might as well bring her in," Steve replies. 

Danny bobs his head back and forth as he finishes chewing and swallows. "What about when she finds out Wo Fat has offed her 'mate? And don't give me that look—you and I both know he has already done it and she's on a fool's errand."

"I don't know," Steve says, dipping his egg roll into the little container of sweet-and-sour sauce. "He might still be alive, if she hasn't felt it."

When Steve looks up, Danny's staring at him like he's just sprouted another head or something. 

"What?"

Talking through a mouthful of food, Danny says, "I thought that was a _myth_!"

"It's not," Steve replies, clearing his throat and trying to think of some way to change the topic.

He hasn't thought of anything yet when Danny asks softly, "So when Freddie passed, you…"

"Felt my soul _break_?" Steve asks, dropping his food and standing up. He doesn't want to be here anymore. Danny just had to ask, didn't he? "Yeah. I felt it. And there's this big empty _hole_ , and all these jagged edges where he's supposed to be. But what am I supposed to do, Danny? Give up? Waste away? That's not what he wanted."

Wide-eyed, Danny slowly stands, his palms out to placate Steve, like he's some wild animal. "You guys talked about _this_ happening?"

Steve scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "We were both Navy SEALs. Odds were…"

Looking a little pale – well, paler than usual – Danny asks, "And Catherine? What are her odds?"

Noticing the way out of this conversation, Steve gesture toward the TV and says, "Better than yours if we miss the kickoff."

Danny flounders for a second before he gets the joke and chuckles. He wags a finger at Steve and says, "You're trying to distract me, McGarrett."

"Is it working?"

Giving Steve this absolutely _fond_ look, Danny shakes his head and sits back down. "No, but maybe the game'll work. Hand me the clicker."

"In your dreams," Steve replies, snatching the remote control from the table and settling back in his chair. "My house, my remote."

"You're a control freak, you know that?" Danny asks, but he settles down and watches the game as he eats. He doesn't mention his worries about Catherine again.

Steve thinks Danny has really very little to worry about. Catherine is a survivor. 

Freddie, though. Freddie was a hero. 

Sometimes Steve hates that part of who he was. Still, he could never hate Freddie. Freddie was Steve's 'mate, and now he only exists anymore in Steve's memories. Steve spent long enough hating his memories of his father. He doesn't want to do that to Freddie's memory too.

~*~

Danny stares at Steve, not quite sure he's heard correctly. "You're going to _North Korea_?"

"Jenna found her 'mate. I'm going to go help get him back," Steve says, as nonchalant as if he'd just said he was about to help Jenna move, not help her infiltrate an enemy country. 

As Steve makes to leave the office, Danny grabs Steve's arm. "Why does it have to be _you_? Can't someone else do it?"

The sigh Steve gives is more resigned than frustrated. "No. The Ranger unit that supported me in capturing Anton Hesse in North Korea has been redeployed. There's no way they can escort Jenna to the drop site."

"So then automatically, you're the guy for the job?" Danny asks, unnerved by Steve's apparent lack of care for his own safety. That same carelessness has been a given since Danny first partnered up with Steve, and yet Danny still hasn't gotten used to it. 

Steve's eyes soften, but he still asks, "What am I gonna do? I've got to help her. I'd do the same for you, and anybody else here." He gestures to HQ as a whole. "You know?" he asks, pleadingly, his voice stern in that almost-angry tone Danny has noticed from him when he's concerned ( _not_ scared, because Navy SEALs don't get scared). "What am I gonna do?"

Danny feels the fight leaving his body. Steve just cares too much about other people, and not about himself. It's going to get him killed sooner rather than later, and Danny wonders if that isn't the point. He makes a mental note to ask Joe White if Steve was this self-destructive before Freddie's death. Danny would bet everything he owns that he wasn't. "Okay," he acquiesces. "Okay. Please, just tell me you've done something like this before."

Steve smirks and crosses his arms over his chest as he says, "That's classified."

"Ah, it's classified," Danny says with a snort. "Of course."

Steve frowns, but his eyes are smiling and his tone sarcastically incredulous as he asks, "Is that concern I see?"

"Yeah, jerk. I'm concerned," Danny replies, wishing for about the tenth time that there was some way he could sit on Steve or put him in a headlock or something to get him to see reason and common sense. "Just do me a favor and watch yourself, huh?"

A playful grin on his lips, Steve picks up his bag from behind his desk and says, "I'll think about you the whole time."

Steve's out the door, heading for North Korea, and Danny's got a shiver down his spine as he follows after Steve. "Yeah, _thanks_!"

Kono waylays Danny, preventing Danny for watching Steve reach the door. In the back of his mind, Danny makes a mental note to ask Catherine just how worried he should be about Steve.

~*~

Catherine is woken by her phone ringing, which she picks up quickly before it can wake Jane, her roommate. She' saying, "Hello? Danny?" before she realizes that Jane's still on duty. 

"Steve's in North Korea," Danny says, without any sort of preamble, the lack of which makes Catherine sit all the way up in shock. "He's not answering his sat-phone."

"Why did he go to North Korea?"

Danny sighs loudly. "Jenna—you remember Jenna—was supposed to exchange her 'mate for a ton of cash. Steve went to watch her back." Danny makes some more frustrated noises. "Except she's been lying to us for _months_ and now he's not answering, Cath!" 

"Do you want me to try calling him?" Catherine asks, rubbing her face and pushing her hair back towards where most of it is still tied. 

"Y-No. I don't know," Danny says, his voice thick. "I've got this feeling in my gut that he's in trouble. I just– what do I do?"

It occurs to Catherine that the bad feeling Danny has is the sort of thing people usually feel about their soulmate, not their close friend. She thinks maybe she should feel jealous, but mostly she just feels worried for Steve. Her heart hammers in her chest at the thought of losing him. "North Korea?" she asks, making sure she hasn't lost the details to the haze of waking up.

"Yeah," Danny replies. 

Catherine tries to think of someone high enough up in the chain of command that they'd be able to pull some shit, and someone who would care enough about Steve to go through with it. When she thinks of the perfect person, she tells Danny, "You have to call Joe White. Tell him everything you know."

"Joe White," Danny repeats. "Yeah, I'll do that. We'll have to…" he trails off, like he doesn't want to admit something to Catherine. Still, he's the most forthcoming person Catherine has ever met, so it doesn't take him more than a few seconds to start talking again. "I'm gonna go find him. I can't stay here and not _know_."

Catherine understands. As much as she and Danny are opposites sometimes, he absolutely shares her same sense of loyalty. She thinks she wouldn't love him if he didn't. "Just make it home safe, Danny."

"I'll do my best," he replies. "You make it home safe, too, babe. It's been lonely here without you."

"Just this last tour," Catherine promises. "And then I can come stateside. A few more months."

Danny snorts and says, "A lot can happen in a few months."

She wishes she was there to hug him tight and remind him she's not going anywhere. "I love you."

"I love you too."

After they say their goodbyes and hang up, Catherine gets dressed. She's not on duty for another two hours, but she's got plenty of contacts who will know exactly what's going on in North Korea.

~*~

As his team approaches the caravan, Danny focuses as best he can on the situation in front of him. Take out the bad guys, try not to get shot, locate Steve. It's obvious Wo Fat didn't count on a whole Navy SEAL unit coming to Steve's rescue, because they make short work of Wo Fat's men. As soon as it's safe, Danny heads for the middle truck. He's ready to shoot if one of the bad guys is lying in wait, but as soon as his eyes adjust to the darkness under the truck bed cover, all he sees is Steve.

"Steve!" Danny cries, all but dropping his rifle in his haste to climb up into the truck. He calls to the others, "Hey, I got Steve!" and scrambles inside.

"D-Danny?" Steve's voice is rough, sticking in his throat until he clears it.

Steve is beat up and bloody, his hands and feet bound with thick, stained rope. Danny can't remember ever being this relieved in his entire life. As Danny reaches for Steve's hands to untie them, Steve looks up at him with this stunned look. His expression reads like he can't believe his eyes, almost like Danny is a ghost or a dream. It makes Danny think this is what Steve must have looked like when he Saw Freddie, but he pushes that thought away for another day.

"Come on, babe," Danny says softly as the ropes fall away from Steve's wrists. He pulls Steve into a quick hug, still not quite believing that they managed to find Steve alive. "Let's get you out of here."

"Yeah. Yes, please." 

Steve helps Danny undo the bindings around his ankles, his bare feet purple with bruises. Though he shuffles to the back of the truck bed without help, he hesitates before stepping out, obviously wary of his ability to hold up his own weight.

Danny holds out his arms to Steve, saying, "Come on, buddy. I've got you."

Giving him another one of those surprised, skittish looks, Steve nods, winding his arm around Danny's shoulder and letting Danny take some of his weight. Chin steps up on Steve's other side after a few steps and takes half the load, which lets them get the hell out of there that much faster. 

They make it back to the bucket-of-bolts helicopter and Danny ends up with Steve's head practically in his lap. He tries not to stare at Steve as they cross the border back into South Korea, but he can't quite help it. Steve is safe and Danny's feelings on the matter are much more intense than he thought they would be.

Sure, Steve is Danny's friend, and his partner. Of course he would be relieved to get Steve back alive and relatively unharmed. But this relieved? Danny feels like he brushed up against something horrible and soul-withering, like losing Steve would have sent him over that cliff that normal people talk about when they contemplate soulbreak. How can you be soulbroken over someone who isn't even your soulmate? 

You can't, right?

~*~

Catherine sits across the table from Danny, her hands wrapped around her coffee cup. She watches Danny stare out the window into the back yard behind the little house they picked out and bought together. She got home the day before, and all throughout her homecoming, Danny has seemed off. Distracted.

With Steve out of the country and both Malia and Kono in the hospital, Catherine supposes he has every reason to be distracted. That doesn't mean she has to like it.

"Are you okay?" she asks carefully.

Danny blinks a few times before turning toward her. "What?"

Even with that stupid look on his face, Catherine can't help but love him. She smiles and reaches her toes out toward his feet under the table. "I asked if you were okay."

"I'm fine," Danny insists, picking his phone up off the table and wagging it around. "Steve hasn't called yet."

Catherine can't help but roll her eyes. "He's a big boy, Danny. He can take care of himself in Japan."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Danny says, "I know he can. I just worry, is all."

Reminded of the feeling Danny said he had when Steve had been captured by Wo Fat in North Korea, Catherine studies her 'mate. This seems like the sort of situation that should make a person jealous. Catherine thinks maybe she _should_ care that while she was deployed Danny and Steve seem to have grown even closer than they were before she and Danny Bonded. 

The thing is, Catherine _doesn't_ care. She trusts the fact that Danny is her soulmate. She trusts that Steve respects the sanctity of that Bond. She loves both of them, in different ways. 

No need to invent drama where there isn't any.

Catherine's phone rings, and she can't help but grin when she sees the caller ID. "Hi, _Steve_!"

"Is that Steve?" Danny asks, reaching for Catherine's phone until she bats his hand away. 

"Hey, Cath," Steve says, and he sounds tired. "Look, I'm coming into Oahu later t–"

"Ask him where he is," Danny cries, raising his voice so Steve can hear him too. "Ask him why he didn't call yesterday!"

Chuckling, Catherine tells Steve, "The old ball and chain has some questions for you."

"Why do you think I called your phone?" Steve drawls. "I've got Shelburne with me. We're taking off now. We'll land in Oahu in seven hours. I need you and Danny to meet us at the airport."

Fending off Danny again when he tries to take the phone, Catherine tells Steve, "No problem. Just let us know what airport and we'll be there."

"Airport?" Danny asks. "He's coming home?"

Fed up, Catherine hands her phone to Danny. "Here. Say hello."

Danny takes the phone and practically yells into it, "You promised you would call, McGarrett."

Shaking her head, Catherine leaves the kitchen and heads back to the master bedroom, and the bathroom beyond. She convinced Danny to buy the house with the whirlpool tub, but she hasn't gotten a chance to use it yet. It's time to reconcile that discrepancy.

~*~

As the plane rolls across the tarmac toward the hangar, Steve notices the Camaro parked there, silver paint gleaming in the late afternoon sun. As they draw closer, he sees that both Danny and Catherine have come, along with an unexpected phalanx of HPD officers.

Steve is so concerned with why those officers are present that he almost misses the surprise that comes over both Catherine and Danny's faces when Doris steps from the plane. He jogs down the stairs, giving half a hug to both of them as he lifts his chin toward the HPD. "What's going on?"

"Wo Fat knows about Shelburne coming here," Danny tells him, leaning around Steve to take a look at the other occupant of his plane. "Malia told us when she woke up."

Grimly aware of what Wo Fat and Frank Delano had done to Malia and Kono because of his pre-flight call to Catherine and Danny, Steve asks, "How is she doing?"

"She lost a lot of blood," Catherine tells him, raising an eyebrow as her eyes drift past Steve's shoulder. "But they think she's going to be okay. Who-who is this, Steve?"

Well, it's now or never. "Shelburne. A.k.a. Doris McGarrett. My mother." Not wanting to dwell on the surprised looks coming from either of them, he finishes the introductions. "Mom, this is my partner, Detective Danny Williams. And this is my friend, Lieutenant Catherine Rollins."

"Navy?" Doris asks as she shakes Catherine's hand.

Catherine smiles and replies, "Of course!"

"Spotting a naval officer is easy when your 'mate was one for fifteen years." Doris smiles and gives Steve's shoulder a playful shove. "I should have known my son's 'mate would be Navy, too."

For a moment, Steve wonders how the hell Doris knows about Freddie. _No one_ knew about them.

And then Catherine stammers. "Oh, n-no. I'm not Steve's 'mate, ma'am. Just a good friend."

"Ah," Doris says, giving Steve a moderately disappointed look, like it's his fault Catherine isn't his soulmate.

Wanting nothing more than to get past this awkwardness, Steve puts a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Okay. We know Wo Fat is after Shelburne," he gives his mother a significant glance. "Danny and I are going to try to find him first. Cath?"

Catherine turns her attention from studying Doris over to him. "Yeah, Steve?"

"You've got your sidearm?"

Catherine pats the holster at her hip, and Steve must be more jet-lagged than he thought, because he should have noticed a detail like that.

"Would you take my mother to the safehouse Joe White set up for us?" He takes the scrap of paper with the address on it out of his pocket and hands it to her. "Protect her?"

"Like she was my own mother," Catherine assures him, and the familiarity with which she says it has Steve thinking Doris wasn't _that_ mistaken when she read his friendship with her as something as intimate as soulmates.

It makes the back of his neck heat up and his throat refuse to say words until he clears it. "Right. Okay. C'mon, Danny. Let's go. I'll see you later, Mom."

"Goodbye, sweetie," she says, and the pet-name sends a shiver down his spine. He wants to ask her not to use it. Not until she earns it back. Abandoning him for twenty years and making him think she was dead is a lot to make up for.

~*~

Danny forks over far too much of his hard-earned money to Kamekona, taking the Pro-Bowl tickets in return. "This is extortion."

Kamekona waggles his ticket in Danny's direction and replies, "Think of it more as a transaction fee."

"Okay, two for us, one for Kamekona," Steve says, actually counting off on his fingers like a giant three-year-old. "Who's the extra ticket for?"

"It's for Catherine." Danny hands Steve his ticket and very carefully stashes the other two in his wallet. 

"Oh, come on, Danny," Steve says, sticking his own ticket in the cargo pocket on his right leg. "I thought this game was going to be a sort of Guy's Day."

Sighing, Danny sits down at one of the picnic tables furthest from Kamkeona's shrimp truck. "Look," he says, gesturing at the other bench and waiting for Steve to sit down before he continues. "Lately I've been either hanging out with you or hanging out with Catherine. And, I love you, man, but splitting my time is starting to get exhausting. Plus, I have Grace half the time now, too. I thought if maybe we did more things together – the three of us – it would be good."

Steve looks away. "I don't know, Danny."

"Hey, I'm your friend. Catherine is your friend. I don't understand the problem." Danny watches Steve's face, looking for some sort of indication of the feelings he's having trouble saying out loud. After two and a half years as Steve's partner, Danny's getting pretty good at reading those expressions. He decides to test a theory. "What? Don't you like Catherine anymore? She was your friend long before I Saw her."

The surprise and vehement denial on Steve's face as he insists, "No, no! That's not it!" make Danny fairly certain Steve is telling the truth.

"Then what?" Danny spreads his arms out, inviting Steve to share, even though he probably won't.

"I-" Steve starts to say, before snapping his mouth shut and shaking his head. "No, you know what? I'm glad Catherine is coming to the game. It's going to be fun."

Danny can hardly believe Steve is choosing not to talk about his feelings _again_. But hey, it's kind of par for the course, isn't it? Knowing getting to Steve's real feelings about the situation is going to be like pulling teeth, Danny decides to let it go. For now, anyway.

Besides, he sees Catherine's car pulling onto the lawn that serves as a parking lot next to Kamekona's truck. Just like every time for the past year and a half, Danny's stomach does an excited wriggle at the thought of seeing his 'mate. 

That excited feeling is squashed like it has been hit by a falling boulder when Danny sees what Catherine is wearing. "Oh, no," he groans.

"What?" Steve asks, following Danny's line of sight until he sees Catherine too. " _Oh_."

As Catherine approaches them, her smile falls. "What? Have I got something in my hair?" She reaches up carefully, like she's not quite sure what she's going to find.

"The _Dallas Cowboys_?" Danny cries mournfully, pointing at Catherine's jersey.

Catherine looks down at her shirt and then shrugs, her arms open wide. "What? Who doesn't love America's team?"

Danny raises his hand at the same time Steve does, and any weirdness from the past five minutes of conversation just melts away. Catherine might be Danny's 'mate, but Steve is his best friend, and nothing is going to change that (bad taste in quarterbacks notwithstanding).

~*~

For the first ten minutes after Steve gets off the phone, he doesn't know what to do with the information he's just been given. In fact, he's still sitting in his office chair, staring at the phone in his hand when Danny finds him.

"What are you looking at?" Danny asks. "You're not watching a dirty movie at work, are you?"

That breaks Steve out of his stupor. "God, Danny! No!"

"Then what is it?" Danny asks, flopping down into the chair on the other side of the desk.

"They finally did it," Steve says, and it takes him a moment to realize Danny won't have any clue what he's talking about. "The State Department. They managed to negotiate for the return of Freddie's remains."

"Oh?" Danny asks, before giving another, more grave, "Oh!" A little surprised at the lack of words from his partner, Steve replies just as tersely. "Yeah."

After making a few faces, Danny asks, "Well, that's good news, right? He deserves to be buried at home."

"He does," Steve says, feeling suddenly restless. He puts his phone in his pocket and stands up, clenching his fingers around nothing.

Danny watches Steve pace across the office, and then asks, "Isn't this what you wanted? Isn't this why you've been calling everyone in D.C. for the past three years?"

"Yeah, it is," Steve agrees, unable to name the uneasiness on the tip of his tongue.

Standing up, Danny gets in Steve's path and catches him, a hand on either one of Steve's shoulders. "Having him back makes it real, though, doesn't it?"

"It's _been_ real," Steve cries, twisting out of Danny's hold. "It was real the moment I felt our bond break, Danny! Having his body back is just– It's–" Steve groans in frustration.

"It's hard," Danny says, putting his hand back on Steve's arm. "Losing anyone is hard. I know that. Losing your soulmate must be–" He shakes his head and sighs. "I can't even imagine."

Steve mulls over the thoughts roiling in his head, finally coming up with the one that seems the biggest. "It feels real, but I still need– I need to see him. I need to be there for the exchange."

"Will they let you do that?"

With a shrug, Steve confesses, "I've done something similar before, but it's–"

"Classified," Danny finishes for him. "Yeah, yeah. I get it." He squints up at Steve for a long moment before saying, "I don't like the idea of you doing this alone. You think they'd let me come?"

"No," Steve insists, even though the thought of having company he can trust on this mission appeals to him. Well, maybe there's another option. "I might be able to request Catherine for the mission. If, you know, you don't mind me borrowing her."

With a chuckle, Danny asks, " _Borrow_ her? Nah, I don't mind if you _borrow_ her. If she wants to go."

"It could be a little dangerous," Steve points out. "With North Korea, it could always be a trap."

"Better to have someone along who can watch your back, then," Danny replies, like it's just that easy to bear the risk of losing his _soulmate_ just to keep Steve safe.

It makes Steve feel loved like he hasn't since Freddie died, which is a bittersweet thought. Still, Steve can't help but reach for Danny, saying, "C'mere," and pulling him into a tight hug.

~*~

The exchange is tense, but it's over quickly, which Steve is grateful for. He doesn't relish the idea of saying goodbye to Freddie for good, but not knowing his final resting place has weighed on Steve. It doesn't help that Freddie's mother, ignorant of the fact that Steve was anything other than Freddie's best friend, has been making monthly calls urging Steve to help in whatever way he can. 

Steve knows a lot of people don't survive the death of their soulmate. That McGarrett men are made of sterner stuff is a point of pride with Steve. His father lived a good twenty years after his mother's death. Sure, maybe he didn't live his life to the fullest once she was gone, but he did it. John McGarrett survived up until the moment Victor Hesse decided to involve him in an international game of revenge.

Maybe once Steve puts Freddie's bones in the ground, where he can visit them and talk to him when he needs to, it'll be easier to move forward. He has friends now, 'ohana. Steve can't bear the thought of leaving them, as tempting as it might be to follow Freddie into whatever it is that follows this world.

Still, as Steve rides in the cargo truck, looking over his shoulder at the crate in the back, he gets a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This doesn't feel right. Steve has been a sailor and a cop long enough to know when to listen to his gut, and now seems as good a time as any.

Back at base, while they're waiting for their ride home to fuel up and get its safety checks, Steve approaches the crate. He cringes at the putrid smell that accosts him upon opening it, but one look tells him that this is definitely _not_ Freddie. "This isn't him," he says out loud, wanting Catherine to hear.

She does, hanging up on her call with Danny coming to his side. "What? What do you mean?"

"This isn't Freddie."

Catherine gives Steve a sympathetic, if skeptical look. "Steve…"

Frustrated by her disbelief, Steve rolls up his right sleeve and points to the mark on his outer forearm. "See? This is my 'mark. Freddie had one just like it." He takes the body's arm and lifts it so she can get a better look. "No 'mark. That's how I know this isn't my Freddie."

Steve watches as the implications of the situation play over Catherine's face. If this isn't Freddie - which it's not - they've just traded a political prisoner for a set of remains that belong to someone else. "Okay," she says, taking half a step backward, like she knows Steve isn't going to like what she's going to say. "This is where we call the State Department."

" _This_ is where the State Department has gotten us," Steve insists, gesturing toward the body. "Three years of negotiations for _nothing_."

No, it looks like Steve has to take care of this himself, whatever that ends up meaning.

~*~

Catherine's not sure she's ever seen Steve as doggedly driven as she does during the mission to recover Freddie's remains. Though when she thinks about it, if anything like this ever happened to Danny, she's sure she'd move heaven and earth to get him back. It's no surprise Steve would do the same, with as loyal as he is to any of his friends, not to mention his soulmate. 

She can see Steve pushing through anything he might be feeling, focused instead on the mission. He pushes forward, and pushes forward, and even when they find Freddie's body and dig it up, it's not quite the release of emotion from him that Catherine has been expecting. Steve comes away from the body with tears in his eyes, demanding of the terrorist who led them to the grave, "Did you do this? Did you do this to my friend?"

As Catherine steps forward, she can see the unnatural damage to the body. At least one arm bone and one leg bone have been cracked, their jagged edges torn through the skin. There's a bit of skin left on the right forearm, and Catherine notices the 'mark. It's just like Steve's. 

This is Freddie, and the terrorists desecrated his body. At least, Catherine hopes Freddie was already dead when the damage occurred. Steve's almost feral interrogation of the terrorist tells Catherine he thinks it might have been done while Freddie was still alive.

"Hey," Catherine says, putting her hand on Steve's shoulder and pulling him back a step, her gun trained on the terrorist so he doesn't do something stupid, like try to run. "Hey, Steve. Come on." She lowers her voice so only he can hear her. "You felt your bond break as you were leaving, right? He was dead when they did this, Steve. They couldn't hurt him. Not really."

"Right." Steve blinks a few times and takes a deep breath. Determination written all over his face, Steve goes back to interrogating the terrorist. This time, his emotions are under control and his questions are focused on the leader of the Dark Sun terrorists, Han Ji-woon. 

Steve might have calmed down, but revenge isn't why they came here. This mission was supposed to be about recovering Freddie's body, and it concerns Catherine that Steve has lost sight of that. 

It's just after the terrorist gives up Ji-woon's location that Catherine realizes this mission isn't just about getting Freddie's remains. It's about giving Steve everything he needs to be able to move on. If revenge is part of that, Catherine wants to make sure he gets it. Though Steve isn't Catherine's 'mate, he is one of the best men she's ever met, and her friend. 

Catherine checks her equipment, and when Steve throws her a glance, she nods at the way forward. "Let's do this."

~*~

Danny goes to Freddie Hart’s memorial, not because he knew the man, but because he was Steve’s soulmate, and Steve is Danny’s friend. Catherine stands beside him, holding Danny’s hand tightly, like she’s afraid that if she doesn’t, Danny will disappear into thin air. Chin and Kono are there as well, Chin looking more somber than Kono, and Danny wonders if the difference in their expressions is because Kono hasn’t met her soulmate yet. She doesn’t quite understand what it is that Steve has lost.

After Steve has spoken with Freddie’s parents, he starts heading toward where his truck is parked. Danny tugs on Catherine’s hand and says a quiet, “C’mon,” to get her to come with him. Together they cut Steve off from his truck, from his means of escape.

“What?” Steve asks, sounding exhausted and a touch annoyed.

"No way in hell you're going home alone, Steven," Danny insists, letting go of Catherine so he can put both hands on Steve's arms. "You just said goodbye to your other half. You need your friends now, more than ever."

Shaking his head, Steve shakes off Danny, only for Catherine to get a hold of him. "Guys. I just want to be alone, okay?"

"Not okay," Catherine says, linking her arm through Steve's and steering him toward the Camaro, rather than his truck. "We all have bad instincts when we're upset, and that is the worst one you've ever had."

Steve starts to waver, but he still looks like he might hold out if Danny doesn't follow Catherine's argument with his own. "We've got a bottle of pretty great fifteen-year-old scotch, and take out menus for all the great places in our neighborhood. Your choice."

His expression softening under the Catherine-Danny one-two punch, Steve gives Danny a hint of a smile. "Have you ever had Indian food?"

"Can't say that I have," Danny replies, returning Catherine's audible gasp with a questioning glance.

At least Steve's smile grows wider as he says, "Oh, you're gonna love it. Trust me."

"Trust me, he says!" Danny gives an exaggerated, exasperated sigh. Still, if watching Danny eat exotic foods makes Steve feel better, Danny knows he's going to do it. Seeing Steve anything other than happy and carefree makes Danny's heart hurt. 

Catherine gives Danny a smile behind Steve's back, and Danny is quick to return with a smile of his own. They're on the same page in this, like in most things, and Danny's sure they can cheer Steve up as long as they do it together.


	3. Part III

While being on Oahu allows Catherine to live with Danny, her job at Pearl just isn't as exciting as the one she had on the Enterprise. It's a lot of paperwork, and very little excitement. The most excitement she gets these days is surfing with Steve and Kono (and sometimes Danny when he can be persuaded) on the weekends. She loves Danny, and she loves being with him, but hearing the stories he and Steve tell about their work with Five-0 makes Catherine miss the thrill of being out in the field.

Honestly, it's making her contemplate retiring from the Navy. 

She's not quite sure who she is without the Navy, though she knows Danny and Grace are a big part of it now. She almost wonders if it would be too pathetic to ask Steve for a job with Five-0. With Kono's recent departure after she and her 'mate Adam went on the run, there has to be space for Catherine, right?

Maybe if she worked with Danny and Steve, Catherine wouldn't end up with days like this - no work, but no one with whom to share her day off, either. 

Sometimes a long drive is the best way to spend time alone, so after a run on Bellows Beach and a stop for a plate lunch, Catherine puts on the radio and starts driving the scenic route toward the North Shore. Before she gets too far, the song changes, necessitating a quick change in station before the new song gets stuck in her head for the rest of the day.

"--drama continues to unfold here at Iolani Palace," the radio announcer says, and Catherine's attention is instantly on the report. That's where Danny works. "Dozens of law enforcement officers are on the scene of an apparent shooting and hostage situation."

Catherine's breath catches in her throat and she looks for the next opportunity to turn around and head back downtown. Just as she finds that opportunity, her car makes a horrible clunking noise and starts spewing white smoke. God, this is just not the time to break down!

Pulling over, Catherine puts the car in park, and the engine dies. She tries to turn it over, but it just won't go. Shit. Time to look under the hood. She pops it open and steps out to take a look, coughing as a billow of smoke hits her in the face. 

"Oh, great." Catherine drops onto the ground in front of the car, looking at the engine from the bottom up, and it's just as she suspected. The engine is leaking coolant. This car isn't going anywhere anytime soon. 

What about the _hostage situation_ at the palace? What about Danny and Steve?

Pulling out her phone, and grateful that she has service, Catherine calls Danny. It goes directly to voicemail, so she tries calling Steve. Again, the call goes directly to voicemail. What is happening down there?

Just as Catherine starts debating whether to try Chin or just call for a cab, a tow truck pulls up beside her. "Need a hand?" asks the driver, a man about her age with a slight Spanish accent and a friendly smile. 

"Uh, yeah," Catherine says, gesturing to the car behind her as the driver gets out of his truck. "I've got a coolant leak. Can you tow to my mechanic, or do you have certain shops you're exclusive to?"

"Oh, it won't be a problem," he says. 

Catherine sees the taser half a second too late to do anything about it. Her legs give out and a burning pain spreads out from the point of impact. Everything goes dark, and Catherine thinks she has blacked out, but there's the feel of fabric against her face and pinpricks of Hawaiian sun breaking through the tiny holes in the hood. 

Her hands wrenched back behind her and zip-tied together, Catherine knows she's in deep trouble. She struggles, kicking out at her captor, but there's two of them now and they hit her with the taser again. Reeling, she decides to save her strength and ride this out. If she's lucky, there will be an opportunity to escape. 

If she's not, well, at least Catherine trusts Steve to get Danny through losing her. 

~*~

“Okay,” Danny whispers, walking beside Steve as he leads them into the basement storage room that is definitely a good hiding place, Danny’s opinion notwithstanding. “We’ve got terrorists in the building, presumably friends of this guy.” He nudges the wounded suspect, Ricardo Cosi, with his toe. “We’ve got this guy bleeding out on us, we’ve got no cell signal, and we’ve got no exit routes. Does that about sum it up?” 

“Yes, Danny,” Steve replies, letting Cosi slump into a vaguely person-shaped puddle on the floor. “That just about sums it up.” 

“Okay, good.” With a sigh, Danny leans against one of the storage shelves and scrunches his mouth up on the left side of his face. “What do you wanna do while we wait?” 

Rolling his eyes, Steve asks, “What do you mean do? We wait. Maybe see if we can use Cosi as leverage to get the NLM to let the hostages go.” 

Tilting his head to the side, Danny regards Cosi for a moment. “If he lasts that long.” 

Cosi is unnaturally pale from blood loss, and Steve knows Danny has a point. He looks about five minutes from kicking the bucket. Or maybe sooner. Steve drops down to his knees beside Cosi, and confirms his suspicion is correct. “He stopped breathing.” 

“He got a pulse?” Danny asks, crouching down on Cosi’s other side. 

After a quick check, Steve replies, “No,” and starts chest compressions. This is just great. NLM will want their guy back alive in order to release any of the hostages. This guy dies and it’s going to mean the deaths of innocent people. 

Still, as Steve works, compressing Cosi’s heart in an attempt to get it working again, he can tell Danny has something to say. Between panting breaths, Steve manages to ask, "What? What is it?"

Gesturing toward Cosi, Danny says, "Now's not exactly the best– No, you know what? This has been bugging me. You know it's been three years?"

"Since we started working together?" Steve asks, just as Cosi takes a gasping breath and regains consciousness. 

"Yeah, that," Danny says, helping Steve get Cosi propped up against the wall. "But also since you lost Freddie. You gotta figure even a soul broken man's got needs…"

"Danny…" Steve uses the name as a warning.

"I just never heard you talk about maybe dating someone. Hooking up at least, you know?" Danny's words are gentle, if annoying, and Steve knows they're coming from a place of love. He won't punch Danny for bringing up the subject. This time. "Maybe meet someone at that Soulbreak support group you think I don't know about?"

"What?" Steve cries out louder than he intends to, startled by Danny's knowledge of what is supposed to be a private and _anonymous_ group. "Just, no. I don't want that."

With a disbelieving half-shrug, Danny asks, "You don't want companionship?"

"What do I need companionship for?" Steve shakes his head. "I got you. I got Catherine. I got Chin and Kono. I'm good."

Mercifully, before Danny can make any more "helpful" suggestions, their stolen radio crackles to life. "Five-0. Five-0? Listen to me. You're holding our brother, Ricardo Cosi. I’ll give you one minute to return him to me, or I start shooting hostages.” 

This is it. The best Steve can do is turn Cosi over and hope HPD makes entry before the NLM decide to start ridding themselves of liabilities – liabilities like Steve and Danny. 

The terrorist continues his spiel, saying, “Just so you know–“ He’s cut off by hostages screaming, followed by a gunshot. “I mean what I say.” 

Meeting Danny’s eye, Steve nods toward the storeroom exit and says, “Help me get him up.” 

Together, they hustle Cosi to the elevator and up into the lobby. The doors open just as the minute expires, and Steve gets his first look at the hostages lying face-down all over the lobby floor. As he drags Cosi’s almost-lifeless body toward the NLM terrorists, Steve lets his contempt for the terrorists show plainly on his face. People willing to shoot innocent civilians as a means to an end rate lower than scum in Steve’s book. 

The lead terrorist – Steve recognizes his voice as the one making demands over the radio – directs two others to take Cosi from Steve and Danny. Then he speaks to them directly. “On your knees.” He uses his weapon to point to a clear area of the floor. 

Steve does the calculation in his head and comes to the conclusion that he won’t be able to disarm all of the terrorists quickly enough to prevent collateral damage, even with Danny’s help. They’re going to have to ride this out.

Steve kneels on the floor, Danny on his right side just like always. 

“I know there’s more than two of you,” says the leader, as one of the NLM lackeys presses a gun barrel to the back of Steve’s head. It takes all of Steve’s will power not to snap into action and disarm the man, leading to a shoot-out and definite loss of life. 

“You don’t want to do that,” Danny says, and it takes Steve a second to realize Danny’s talking to the terrorist with his gun to Steve’s head. He’s not quite sure whether he should take the warning as a compliment, or if somehow Danny has noticed how close Steve is to losing control, and he’s trying to prevent the same loss-of-life scenario that Steve’s trying to avoid.

It occurs to Steve that at this point, Danny knows him almost as well as Freddie did. He’s not sure whether that means he’s too close to Danny, or that he never let himself be close enough to Freddie after they Saw each other and Bonded. 

That’s a topic for a later time. Right now, Steve has to figure out how to get everyone out of this alive. The thing that’s bothering him is that he has no idea what the NLM terrorists’ exit strategy could be. By this time, the palace is surrounded. Maybe they’re planning on leveraging the hostages and negotiating for transport away from here? 

If that’s the case, Steve figures the best play is to offer himself as the best possible hostage. 

Then the terrorist behind them moves his gun from the back of Steve’s head and presses it to Danny’s neck. “Are you offering to go first?” Danny winces, and though Steve thought he was close to losing his control before, the sight brings him within a hair’s breadth of that edge.

How _dare_ they touch Danny? 

Needing to regain control of the situation, Steve takes a deep breath and looks around. Up on the second floor balcony, there's a shadow that shifts slightly. That has to be Chin. A terrorist wouldn't be hiding, and a civilian would have been caught by now. Steve tries to think of someway to use Chin's presence to his advantage, but he doesn't have enough time to come up with a way to signal Chin covertly. 

Ultimately, Steve can't take the risk that they'll shoot Danny if he doesn't cooperate. "Chin," he calls out. "It's all over. Get down here."

Appearing as ordered, Chin walks down the steps into the lobby, his hands above his head. One of the terrorists takes his gun and leads Chin over to where Danny and Steve are kneeling. 

Steve glances back at the terrorists behind them, trying to judge when it might be safe to ask Chin what he knows. A loud gunshot draws his attention to the other side of the lobby, where the lead NLM guy has just put a bullet through Ricardo Cosi's brain.

It's a move Steve didn't expect, but it makes sense if Cosi knew everything about their operation. Eliminate the deadweight and a potential leak all in one move. 

What doesn't make sense is when, one by one, the terrorists start putting their guns on the ground and holding their hands up. Steve shares quick glances with Danny and Chin to see if they understand, but both of them look just as confused as Steve.

The leader gives Steve a smirk and says, "You're free to arrest us now."

Either these are the stupidest terrorists Steve has ever come across, or this is all part of a bigger plan. With as much experience as he has, Steve is inclined to believe the latter. He makes sure all of the terrorists are in his sights before moving forward carefully. He picks up one of the terrorists' surrendered guns and holds it behind him, letting Danny take it before he picks up another. 

As soon as he, Danny, and Chin are armed, and the rest of the weapons are out of reach for the terrorists, Steve breathes a careful sigh of relief. In a low voice, he tells Danny, "This isn't over."

"Yeah, I know," Danny replies. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

"You're with me," he says to Danny, but louder so Chin can hear too. "Chin, check on the wounded."

Steve directs the terrorists out the front door of the palace, and right into SWAT, who look like they were just about to make entry. Steve feels a little better about his decision to surrender. HPD had their back, like always.

"Take them to federal lockup," Steve tells SWAT, still uneasy. "Separate cells." He notices Lukela and waves him over. "Duke, call the FBI and DHS. Have them standby for debrief."

"Commander," Duke asks. "How did you get them to surrender?"

"I didn't," Steve says, as his phone starts ringing. SWAT must've deactivated the jammer one of the terrorists was carrying.

"Then how is this over?" Duke asks.

"I don't think it is." Steve excuses himself and gets a look at the screen of his phone. Why is Catherine calling him, and not Danny? Maybe she couldn't get through to Danny? He picks up the call and says, "Catherine, we're fine."

A voice that is decidedly _not_ Catherine's, as it is male, says, "Oh, I am so glad to hear that."

The voice has an accent eerily similar to those of the NLM terrorists and Steve feels his blood run cold. "Who is this?"

The voice is far too smug as he says, "I think you already know."

"Where is Lieutenant Rollins?" Steve demands, turning around to look for Danny in the crowd outside the palace. Danny's as easy to find as a beacon, Steve is so tuned to the sight of him. Getting Danny's attention from thirty yards away is a different story.

"She will be alright, Commander," the terrorist says, "as long as you do exactly what I say." 

Steve knows that he wants to put a bullet through this guy's heart, but that's an unproductive thought, so he waits silently for instruction. 

The terrorist continues. "Take a deep breath and listen very carefully to me. What I ask of you is simple. I get my people back, or your soulmate will never be seen again."

_Soulmate?_

Catherine's voice comes over the line, tinny with her distance from the phone. "Don't do it, Steve!"

"Catherine! Catherine!" Steve calls, realizing after the fact that it's unlikely she can hear him. 

"Don't do it, Steve!" Catherine calls again. "Don't give him any–"

She's cut off by a familiar thudding noise, and Steve knows the terrorist has hit Catherine. Steve just about sees red, clenching his fist tightly. When he looks up, he sees Danny giving him a questioning look and heading in his direction. 

"What happens to her now is up to you," the terrorist says, and it's the smugness in his voice that really gets to Steve.

"You listen to me," Steve growls, holding out a hand to hold onto Danny as he reaches Steve. "This only ends one way, and that's with you dead. You understand that?"

"I will call you back in ten minutes," says the NLM guy, and Steve notices the SWAT paddywagon, the one carrying all of the NLM prisoners, pull away from the palace. "If my people are not free by that time… Well, do I have to state the obvious?"

Steve looks at Danny as the call ends, and he knows he can't let Catherine die. There's no way Steve is letting Danny go through the same thing he went through three years ago. It's not going to happen. So again, Steve has to make the choice to play along, even if that means freeing dangerous prisoners, who are currently getting further and further away as Steve stands here. "We've got to move," Steve tells Danny.

To his credit, Danny follows Steve toward the parking lot and the Camaro, no questions asked. Steve wonders if he can feel that Catherine's in trouble.

~*~

Danny can't quite wrap his brain around what's going on, and Steve is still about fifty steps ahead of him. The thing is, as soon as Steve said, "They have Catherine," Danny became the stupidest man alive.

"I have to get her back, Steve. I _have_ to!"

"I'll do whatever it takes," Steve says, keeping one hand on the wheel, and reaching over to squeeze Danny's forearm. "I'm not letting you lose her."

"It's a stupid move, though," Danny points out, holding onto the dash as Steve makes a particularly sharp detour around a truck. "Releasing the prisoners? It's career-ending, certifiably. You don't have to be involved. I'll do it myself."

"What are you kidding?" Steve asks, and he actually sounds offended that Danny offered to spare him of the criminal aspect of this particular situation. "That's not going to happen."

"Why not, Steve? Would you just take a minute to think about the situation?"

Steve's jaw sets and his nostrils flare as he goes quiet for a moment, his eyes on the road as he races to catch up with the SWAT van carrying the NLM prisoners. A few breaths later, Steve says in a very careful voice, "Listen to me. I lost my dad to guys like this. I'm not going to lose Catherine, too. I'm not going to chance losing _you_ to soulbreak. We're going to get her back, together."

There's something about the raw determination in Steve's voice that makes Danny shiver, his chest feeling tight. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Danny says, "Thank you for having my back."

"Always," Steve replies, giving Danny a tight smile before turning his attention back to the road. He nods toward the road ahead of them and the SWAT van Danny can see four blocks ahead. "There it is."

Danny crosses himself for luck and holds on as Steve punches the engine, accelerating toward the SWAT van and ultimately running it off the road. Danny hesitates just a fraction of a second before getting out of the car, pistol in his hand. He knows pointing it at fellow police officers – especially officers who haven't done anything wrong – crosses a line he can't ever uncross. 

Still, if the choice is between crossing this line and losing Catherine, it's really no choice at all.

Since Catherine is Danny's 'mate, he feels like he should be leading the coup against Captain Grover's SWAT team, but Steve gets there first. He orders Grover out of the van and threatens him with his weapon. "Hands in the air. On your knees."

"What are you doing?" Grover asks, looking over at Danny for some sort of explanation.

Danny doesn't have a good one, so he shrugs and puts his gun up too. "Get on your knees, man."

"Don't move, don't move," Steve orders as Grover scowls and does as ordered. Danny covers Steve as he moves forward and takes Grover's gun, praying to God that he won't have to shoot any of his HPD colleagues. They should know better than to disobey the leader of Five-0, right? Steve continues barking orders, and the rest of the SWAT team exits the van peacefully.

Danny moves each of their guns out of reach and then starts zip-tying their hands behind their backs. To each one, Danny says a soft, "Sorry. I'm sorry about this." Guilt gnaws at his stomach, but Danny doesn't stop. The ten-minute deadline is quickly approaching.

As if Steve has that same internal clock, he waves the prisoners out of the van as frantically as Danny's ever seen him. "Out, out. Get out. Go!" As they move away from the SWAT van, Steve uses the impractically big knife he always carries to cut the ties around their wrists.

"It's nice to see you again," says the NLM leader, gloating and Danny is _this close_ to socking him in the jaw. The only thing holding him back is Catherine's life in the balance.

Danny decides to go with words, instead. He gets up in the guy's face and says, "If anything, _anything_ happens to Catherine, I will kill you."

"Not if I kill him first," Steve adds, his arm brushing Danny's shoulder as he stands intimidatingly close to the terrorist.

Still smug, the terrorist smiles. "Can I ask you something? Are the keys still in the Camaro?"

The bastard doesn't even wait for an answer, just leads his people to Danny's car. "What's with these guys?" Danny asks Steve softly. "First they take Catherine, now they're taking my car? What did I ever do to them?"

"I think they're confused. They thought Catherine was my 'mate. They probably think the Camaro is mine, too. And since I'm the one that got between them and Wo Fat…"

Danny shakes his head. "Well, if maybe you wouldn't drive _my_ car all the time, they would've gotten it right."

Steve's phone rings as Grover calls to him, "You've just lost your badge, McGarrett!" He says nothing about Danny being just half a step behind Steve in this whole thing.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Steve says, answering the phone. "All right, it's done."

The NLM guys on the other end of the line say something that Danny can't hear. He pokes at Steve and nods at the phone, and to his credit, Steve understands the nonverbal request and puts the phone on speaker. "–mmander."

"Where is she?" Danny demands, half his attention drawn by the prisoners driving away in his car.

The NLM guy falters a little, thrown off by Danny's voice maybe. "History doesn't have to repeat itself," the terrorist says, and Danny wonders how the hell they know about John McGarrett's murder, but they couldn't figure out that Catherine is Danny's 'mate, not Steve's. Steve doesn't spend _that_ much time at their house, does he? "I had a feeling you'd listen to reason."

"We did just what you asked," Steve points out, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Now tell us where she is."

"Ka'ena point."

Danny's not quite sure where that is, but Steve hangs up the phone and says, "Let's go," like he knows exactly where they're holding Catherine.

Danny hopes to God that Steve's right.

He follows Steve into the SWAT van, buckling his seatbelt as Steve starts the engine and pulls out onto the road. Looking into the side mirror, Danny says, "I feel bad, leaving them all hogtied like that on the side of the road."

"Call Duke," Steve replies. "He'll sort them out."

"And then they'll sort us out," Danny says with a sigh. Still, calling Duke will take Danny's mind off the fact that the only thing standing between Catherine and death is the word of the terrorist who kidnapped her. Before he hits the button to dial, he asks Steve, "You definitely felt it, right? You felt it when Freddie died?"

His voice thick and gruff, Steve says, "Yeah, Danny. I felt it." He clears his throat. "If you haven't, that means she has to be okay."

When Steve glances over at Danny, his eyes are wider than usual, and Danny realizes he's scared. "I haven't," Danny assures Steve. "Felt it, I mean. I haven't felt anything."

"Good. That's good." Steve breaths out a sigh that sounds a lot like relief.

"Hey, hey. I thought that worried 'mate thing was my line. You're supposed to be the guy telling me it's all gonna be okay." Danny watches Steve's face as he drives.

With a decisive nod, Steve parrots Danny's words back at him, sincerely. "It's all gonna be okay. We're gonna find Catherine. She's gonna be fine."

The weight Steve is putting on Catherine's well being seems less like how a person would treat a friend's – or even a former lover's – absence. He's treating Catherine like family, and Danny realizes to Steve, she probably is. Or is as good as family, anyway. Just like Steve treats Danny, Chin, and Kono. 

Just like Danny has been treating Steve these past few years. It's not quite the same way Danny feels about his brother, or any of his relations, but it's more than what Danny feels for his friends. He just can't quite put a finger on what to call it.

Before Danny can put any more thought into the question, Steve pulls the SWAT van onto a narrow road that ends at a trailhead. "This is it."

"Let's go," Danny says, jumping out of the van and jogging onto the trail. He can't see anyone right away, so he calls out, "Catherine!"

Steve's voice joins Danny's as they move further into the forest, calling out for Catherine.

The first thirty seconds of the search make Danny feel like he's going to have an anxiety heart attack. What if they tried to killed her? What if she's somewhere else, bleeding out? What if they've taken her off the island?

And then he hears it. "Danny!" It's Catherine's voice, coming from behind a stand of trees off to his right. "Steve!"

"Catherine!" Danny calls out, moving in that direction, Steve right behind him.

And then there she is. As she clears the treeline, it's like Danny's Seeing her for the first time all over again. He feels his blood pressure drop as he sighs in relief. In the next moment, as he reaches Catherine and pulls her into his arms, he notices both her familiar, comforting scent, and the fact that she's been roughed up. She's got scrapes on her knuckles and one of her cheeks, a trail of dried blood coming from her left nostril, and a black eye. "What did those animals do to you?"

"I'm okay," Catherine insists, letting Steve cut the zip tie around her wrists. 

Putting his knife away once that's done, Steve cups his hands around Catherine's face, saying softly, "Let me see."

"Steve," Catherine says, reaching for Danny with one hand, and resting the other on Steve's wrist. "I'm fine. It looks worse than it is."

Steve still has that wild look in his eyes, like he's realizing how close they were to losing Catherine and it scares him more than anything has a right to scare a Navy SEAL. "You're sure?"

Catherine nods. "You shouldn't have let them go."

"Come on. We're not gonna lose _you_ ," Steve says, brushing a kiss over Catherine's cheek, just below the scrape.

Danny figures maybe he should jealous about someone else treating his 'mate this way, but it's _Steve_. Danny's been on the receiving end of one of Steve's post-injury freak outs before. He never got _kissed_ , but the hands on his jaw and the careful inspection of injury is more-than-familiar. 

Putting one arm over Catherine's shoulders and the other on Steve's back, keeping him close, Danny asks Catherine, "You _sure_ you're okay?"

"Yeah," Catherine assures him, leaning her forehead against Danny's as Steve drops one of his hands away from her face. "Yeah, I'm good, but you let them get away."

That old McGarrett twinkle back in his eye, Steve puts his arm across Danny's shoulders and says, "That's what they think."

Danny knows that they have to move. They have to check in with Chin and get Captain Grover's van back to him before he has them exiled from the island. They have to make sure the NLM doesn't get away, especially with whatever information Chin thinks they stole from HQ. Danny knows they have to move, but he wants to stay right here, with both Catherine and Steve close and safe, for just a little bit longer.

~*~

Catherine's in this now, so she helps in the shootout with the NLM terrorists after HPD stops their vehicle on its way into Aloha Stadium. She sticks close to Danny (or Danny sticks closer to her, she can't tell which) and uses her borrowed rifle to return fire. The shoot-out is a short one, and soon Steve calls for a cease-fire. 

As a team, she, Danny, Steve, and Chin approach the terrorist's car. There's a bloody hand clutching a gun extending out from the window, but soon it drops the gun, its owner passing away. Catherine crouches down to look into the overturned car, noting, "They're all dead."

From the other side of the car, Chin says, "There's one missing."

Standing up, the first thing that Catherine notices is a conspicuous absence. "Where's Steve?"

Not two seconds later, there's a volley of gunfire from closer to the stadium.

"There's our answer," says Danny, heading in that direction. 

Catherine follows, but before they get very far, the stolen helicopter rises over the rim of the stadium. Gunshots ring out from inside the cabin, and one of the figures there is unmistakably familiar. Catherine gasps and points. "He's up there!"

A figure falls out of the helicopter, and for half a second, Catherine swears her heart stops with the fear that it's Steve, plunging to his death. The clothes were wrong, weren't they? 

The helicopter's flight path starts weaving around recklessly, and beside her, Danny swears breathlessly. "Oh, shit!"

"Danny, what if he…" Catherine can't even put words to the fear clenching around her guts. She pictures no more afternoons with Steve planted on their couch, debating the merits of various sports teams as he and Danny gorge on ESPN Classics. She pictures no more Sunday mornings playing with Grace in the water off Steve's private beach. She pictures having no one to commiserate with when Danny is being particularly _Danny_. "What if…"

Putting his warm hand in hers, Danny says, "No, he's got this."

And like Danny can predict the future – maybe he can when it comes to Steve – the helicopter evens out and lands in the parking lot.

Catherine is the first one to start moving in that direction, but Danny is close on her heels, and both of them reach Steve's side together. "Are you okay?" Catherine calls up to him.

"Yeah," Steve says, even though he looks shaken, still gripping the cyclic stick with white knuckles.

Danny tugs at Steve's elbow. "Come on. Come on, Superman," he says, guiding Steve out of the aircraft.

Steve follows, but he sits down on the footboard right away, like his legs aren't obeying him. Given the way the helicopter had been spinning, Catherine wouldn't be surprised if Steve was still more than a little dizzy. Still, he gives Catherine a roguish smile that makes Catherine want to shake her head and kiss him like she used to.

"Okay, you see?" Danny asks, his hand still on Steve's shoulder. "This is the reason I don't like to fly. Because of you."

With a snort, Steve stands up, though he's still wobbling a bit. He lets Catherine put his arm across her shoulders as he points at Danny. "No, you don't like to fly because you have a fear of fun."

Catherine laughs, and Danny pretends to be affronted, crying, "This is _fun_ to you? This is you having fun." Catherine knows he doesn't mean it, though, because in the next breath, Danny has his hands all over Steve, asking, "Did you break anything?"

"Will you shut up?" Steve says, batting away Danny's hands. Amused, Catherine wonders how the NLM mistook _her_ for Steve's soulmate, and not Danny.

Behind Danny, Chin says, "Someday, I'm gonna miss this."

His words imply either someday Chin won't be working with Five-0, or someday Steve and Danny won't be together anymore. That second thought reminds Catherine of the fear she felt when she thought Steve could have been the one thrown from the helicopter and killed. She doesn't want to imagine her and Danny's lives without Steve, much less have it become a reality. At least he won't find his soulmate and have to follow them out of the country, like Kono had to follow Adam.

Catherine closes her hand around the one Steve has on her shoulder. "Okay, boys. We've had a long day. Why don't we let HPD handle the paperwork, and let's go grab a beer on me?"

"Did you say free beer? What are we standing around here for?" Steve asks, which makes Chin laugh and Danny roll his eyes. "Come on, let's go!"

As they walk away, Steve's arms over both Catherine and Danny's shoulders, Catherine can't help but ask, "You want to tell me how you caught up with that helicopter?" 

"Well, you see…"

~*~

The cotton-dry feeling in his mouth coupled with the way his whole body, from toes to hair, vaguely aches reminds Steve that yesterday was a particularly rough day, and he'd followed it on with a few too many drinks. Oh, that's right. Catherine had offered to pay for them. 

Something smells vaguely off, and when he opens his eyes, blinking at the bright sunlight coming in through the slats on the blinds, Steve realizes it's because he's sleeping in Catherine and Danny's room. Usually he crashes out on the couch. Usually he keeps his clothes on, too.

Turning his head one way, Steve sees the back of Catherine's head, he long hair in a loose braid for sleeping. Turning his head the other way, he sees Danny, stretching as he starts to come to. 

Steve clears his throats and waits for Danny to focus on him before asking, "Was this what all that talk was about yesterday? _My_ needs?"

Danny smiles and snorts, inching closer and putting an arm across Steve's bare chest. Kissing Steve's shoulder he says in a gravelly voice, "Last night proves that you still have them."

Hazy memories from the night before filter through Steve's mind and his body reacts in ways that it hasn't since before Freddie's death. "You've–" Steve chuckles, giddiness making his chest tight and his smile wide. "You've got me there."

On his other side, Catherine stirs. Her eyes are closed as she turns over and cuddles close to Steve, getting herself between his arm and his ribs. Danny's looking at her with soft fondness, reaching across Steve to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. 

"She's so beautiful," he whispers, like it's a secret, even though he's been Bonded to her for three years, and married for two.

"Yeah," Steve agrees, running his hand gently up and down Catherine's bare back. "You're a lucky man."

"I can hear you," Catherine mumbles, and Steve has to rein in his laugh so he doesn't jostle her too much. 

Danny shifts, getting Steve's arm around his back too, and now Steve is holding both of them and he has no idea what's supposed to happen next. "So last night was what?" he asks. "A one-time thing?"

Her face scrunching up in displeasure, Catherine groans, "Nooo!"

Danny laughs against Steve's chest and says, "Not if you don't want it to be."

Steve looks back and forth between the two of them. Neither of them is Freddie, but he's gone now, and maybe Danny's right. Steve deserves to be happy. "I don't," he confesses softly, watching Catherine's face as she opens her eyes and looks up at him plaintively. "I don't want it to be a one-time thing."

"Good," Danny says, propping himself up on his elbow and looking down at Steve and Catherine with a big smile on his face. "Because let me tell you, I have ideas."

"Should I be concerned?" Steve asks Catherine, finding the end of her braid and tugging it, just a little.

"Oh, no," Catherine insists with a wry grin. "Danny has the best ideas." She reaches up and whispers in Steve's ear, "I promise."

Steve shudders. "O-okay, then. I'm all yours."

It's Danny who kisses him first, but Catherine follows right away afterward, and over the course of the morning, and the next few weeks, years, and decades, Steve grows more and more grateful for his Navy-earned cardiopulmonary stamina. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can visit me [on tumblr](http://pterawaters.tumblr.com).
> 
> Sillyowl's masterpost can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10525338).

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art masterpost for Darling, So It Goes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10525338) by [sillyowl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sillyowl/pseuds/sillyowl)




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